The events committee of Badminton World Federation (BWF) may try to shorten the format of play in Thomas and Uber Cup finals by reducing the number of events from five to three - one singles and two doubles events.

Thomas Cup (left) and Uber Cup

Thomas Cup (left) and Uber Cup

BWF will discuss this proposal at this year’s council meeting, which will be held during the Thomas-Uber Cup Finals from May 18-25 in New Delhi. Currently, the Finals are decided over three singles and two doubles.

When asked about the new format, world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei could not hide his excitement: “This new format would be fair to most countries. This would increase the level of unpredictability, create more excitement, and encourage fierce competition from other countries."

Countries such as Malaysia, England, Denmark who are lacking in depth in team events, will undoubtedly benefit from this change. On the other hand, China and Indonesia will probably dislike the idea as they have quality players in both their singles and doubles line-ups.

“Countries like South Korea, Denmark and Malaysia will be dangerous, because they all have some good singles and doubles players. Standard between Asian and European countries will draw closer and no one country could dominate the event for years," added Chong Wei.

Furthermore, the new format would excite the fans and more suitable for television broadcasting, as it would only settle within three hours instead of drag on for five or more hours.

Chong Wei also told reporter that BWF may tweak the scoring format in the Finals too. “I heard that the first two set will still use the 21-point scoring format, but there would be only 11 points for rubber game. The scoring format change would make badminton matches shorter and more explosive ” said Chong Wei who expressing high interest in the new format.